Illegal content on Elon Musk’s X leads to EU investigation

The European Union on Monday announced a formal investigation into Elon Musk’s social media platform X, accusing it of failing to combat illegal content and disinformation, a lack of transparency over advertising and “deceptive” design practices.

The enquiry is perhaps the most substantial regulatory move yet against X, since it rolled back its content moderation policies after Mr Musk bought the service once known as Twitter last year. The company’s new policy has led to an increase in inflammatory content on the platform, according to researchers, causing brands to scale back their advertising.

By going after X, the European Union is for the first time using the authority it acquired after the approval of the Digital Services Act last year. The law gives regulators vast new powers to force social media companies to monitor their platforms for hate speech, disinformation and other divisive content. Other services covered by the new law include Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube.

The European Commission, the executive branch of the 27-nation bloc, had signaled its intention to further investigate X’s business practices. In October, regulators launched a preliminary investigation into the spread of “terrorist and violent content and hate speech” on X following the start of the Israel-Gaza conflict.

“The evidence we currently have is sufficient to formally open proceedings against “The Commission will carefully investigate X’s compliance with the DSA to ensure that European citizens are protected online.”

X said it “remains committed to compliance with the Digital Services Act and is cooperating with the regulatory process.”

“X is committed to creating a safe and inclusive environment for all users on our platform, while protecting freedom of expression, and we will continue to work tirelessly toward this goal,” the company said.

The research reveals a major difference between the United States and Europe in terms of internet surveillance. While online postings are largely unregulated in the United States due to freedom of expression protections, European governments have increased restrictions around hate speech, incitement to violence, and other harmful material for historical and cultural reasons.

The Digital Services Act was an attempt by the EU to force companies to put procedures in place to more consistently comply with the rules surrounding such online content.

The announcement Monday marks the start of an investigation without a specific deadline. The investigation is expected to include interviews with outside groups and requests for more evidence from X. If the company is found guilty of breaching the Digital Services Act, it could be fined up to 6 percent of global turnover.

When Mr. Musk took control of the platform, he dissolved the trust and safety board, overhauled content moderation practices and welcomed dozens of banned users back to the platform. Dozens of studies published since then have described almost immediately increase in anti-Semitic content and hate speech.

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a nonprofit organization focused on monitoring extremism and disinformation, found that anti-Semitic posts in English on X more than doubled after Musk’s takeover. the European Commission found it that involvement in pro-Kremlin accounts grew 36 percent early this year after Mr. Musk lifted the mitigation measures.

As a wave of natural disasters occurred around the world this summer, climate misinformation spread widely on XA score card When evaluating social media companies, X was awarded one point out of a possible 21 for its work defending against climate-related falsehoods.

EU officials said that The law also requires companies to conduct risk assessments on and limit the spread of harmful content on their platforms.

Officials expressed concerns about X’s content moderation policies in languages ​​other than English, especially as the 2024 elections approach across the continent.

In addition, the investigation will examine X’s efforts to tackle the spread of false information. The company relies on a feature called Community Notes that allows users to add context to posts they believe are misleading, an approach that EU officials say may not be enough. Regulators will also investigate ways in which messages from X users who pay for authentication, indicated by a blue check mark, will gain more visibility.

The investigation will test the EU’s ability to force major internet platforms to change their behavior. Mr Musk is an outspoken supporter of freedom of expression and in May removed X from the EU’s voluntary code of practice aimed at combating disinformation.

In October, after the EU began its preliminary investigation, Musk challenged regulators to share evidence of illegal content on “List the violations you reference on X so the public can see them,” he said.

Stuart A. Thompson reporting contributed.